Donald Trump was projected as the winner in South Carolina\u2019s Republican presidential primary on Saturday over rival Nikki Haley, keeping him on track to become his party\u2019s 2024 nominee.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press called the race<\/a> in the former president\u2019s favor shortly after polls closed statewide at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.<\/p>\n While Haley is a former South Carolina governor, Trump was widely expected to win in her home state, given he had a 25-point lead in polls focused on the state, according to a RealClearPolitics moving average<\/a> of surveys.<\/p>\n Haley is likely to face further pressure to drop out of the 2024 GOP race, but she said Tuesday that she\u2019ll stay in the contest at least until after the Super Tuesday primaries<\/a> on March 5. She talked about Americans\u2019 \u201cdissatisfaction with the leading candidates,\u201d saying there\u2019s still a chance to restore people\u2019s faith so she \u201cwill fight as long as that chance exists<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n There are expectations among political analysts that she\u2019ll do as promised and not drop out in the near future.<\/p>\n Haley \u201cseems likely to stay in the race regardless of the outcome in South Carolina\u201d because she wants to remain the main Republican alternative to Trump in 2024 or perhaps become the GOP front-runner for 2028, said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at Virginia\u2019s University of Mary Washington, ahead of Trump\u2019s victory in the Palmetto State.<\/p>\n Trump, 77, might face a health crisis or a conviction in one of his ongoing criminal cases<\/a>, and then Republicans \u201cmay have their doubts about nominating him\u201d and prefer an alternative this year, Farnsworth told MarketWatch. And regarding 2028, the Mary Washington expert noted that the GOP has a \u201chistory of turning to second-place finishers for subsequent nominees,\u201d such as when the party tapped George H.W. Bush in 1988, John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.<\/p>\n Check out:<\/strong> Trump takes credit for stocks\u2019 rally, yet there are expectations his Fed would be \u2018not just dovish, but weird\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Jeff Gulati, a professor of political science at Bentley University in Massachusetts, also views Haley, 52, as counting on a sudden setback for Trump or looking to 2028.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the advantages of going state to state, even if you\u2019re getting beat by a significant margin, is that you\u2019re building an organization, and that \u2026 gives her a head start for 2028,\u201d Gulati said. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd Trump is 77 years old. He\u2019s got quite a few legal problems right now, and so I think there\u2019s also the hope that maybe something happens that forces him to to drop out, and then she\u2019ll be the only one there.\u201d<\/p>\n To be sure, Haley continues to look like a longshot for the 2024 Republican nomination, and many analysts already have moved on to preparing for a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden in November\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong> Trump leads Biden in 7 swing states and is favored on handling the economy: poll<\/a><\/p>\n Betting markets tracked by RealClearPolitics<\/a> have been putting Haley\u2019s chances at becoming the GOP nominee at only around 6% in recent days.<\/p>\n Gulati said a 6% chance could be \u201cabout right,\u201d since it \u201creally is about Donald Trump, either voluntarily or involuntarily, dropping out of the race.\u201d<\/p>\n Farnsworth, on the other hand, said 6% seems optimistic, and 1% may be more accurate.<\/p>\n Now read:<\/strong> The $7,500 federal EV tax credit is on the ballot in November<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n